1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilets having two flush modalities, wherein one flush modality is a urinal flush modality. More particularly, the present invention relates to a bowl valve for the urinal flush modality in the form of a pop-up valve. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a toilet having two-flush modalities wherein urinal flush piping has a minimized cross-sectional height.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toilets serve admirably as an efficient and sanitary means to dispose of waste material. Toilets operate upon a flush cycle, wherein waste disposal is performed with the accompaniment of a large quantity of water, usually on the order of three, four or more gallons.
As population densities have increased, the demands upon available water supplies have become quite substantial. Indeed, periodically, certain locales are subject to water rationing, wherein flushing of the toilet is requested to be performed only infrequently. Such a request not only subjects the toilet user to odor, but potentially also to disease due to the stagnancy of pre-used bowl water. Accordingly, a solution to the water demands of toilet flushing with each toilet use would be extremely desirable for both personal and ecological reasons.
One "popular" notion to reduce the amount of flush water needed is to place an object in the tank, such as a water filled plastic milk container, the volume of which diminishing the water volume in the tank. While this sounds not only feasible but practical, one must consider why, in the first place, the toilet manufacturer designed the tank to hold a specified amount of flush water. First, there must be enough flush water to move solid waste in the bowl out of the toilet and into the sanitary drain. Second, there must be still more flush water to flush out the dirty bowl water while at the same time rinsing the bowl clean. Thirdly, there must be enough flush water left over to provide an adequate depth of water at the trap located at the bottom portion of the bowl so that the sanitary drain is fluidically cut-off from the bowl to thereby prevent methane and other sewer gases from backing-up into the bowl, and, thereupon, into the restroom. Thus, reducing the amount of flush water by simply reducing the water stored in the tank may result in insufficient water to properly flush the bowl. More potentially disastrous, is that over time an accumulation of solid waste may become lodged in the sanitary drain, plugging the drain and resulting in back-ups because repeatedly too little flush water was available to move the solid waste out the local sanitary drain and into the main sanitary drain.
Some toilets operate on a flush process wherein less flush water is required, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,616 to Ament, dated Jan. 29, 1991. Other toilets combine a lesser amount of flush water in combination with a compressed gas principle. Problematically, these toilets may be subject to drain clogging if insufficient flush water is available to move the flushed solid waste out into the main sanitary drain.
The flushing of liquid waste requires less flush water than does the flushing of solid waste, since the flushing of liquid waste does not entail the potential for drain clogging. With this concept in mind, the present inventor devised a toilet with two flush modalities, now described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,850, issued on Aug. 27, 1996, which patent is hereby herein incorporated by reference, wherein described is a toilet which operates on the basis of two flush modalities: one for flushing solid waste, and a second for flushing only liquid waste.
The two flush modality toilet according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,850 is composed of a bowl, a tank connected with the bowl wherein the tank is connected to a water supply, a conventional flush modality for flushing solid waste from the bowl, and a urinal flush modality for flushing liquid only waste from the bowl, wherein the urinal flush modality includes: a bowl valve at the base of the bowl, a bowl valve control for selecting between open and closed states of the bowl valve, a conduit for directing liquid waste from the bowl into the sanitary drain, and an auxiliary flush control for supplying a limited quantity of flush water from the tank into the bowl to provide restoration of the trap water in the bowl after a urinal flush modality has been initiated.
A foot pedal selectively operates the bowl valve, wherein when in an open state all the liquid in the bowl is drained. Upon release of the foot pedal, the bowl valve is returned to a closed state. Flush water from the tank is then delivered to the bowl to restore the trap water.
Operation may be mechanically effected or electronically effected. With regard to mechanical operation, the flush water from the tank may be introduced by action of the foot pedal or by separate action of a control at the tank.
While the above described two flush modality toilet is admirably able to do the job intended, there is improvement needed. For example, the bowl valve described therein is in the form of a bowl stopper which sealingly engages a bowl valve seat, wherein the bowl valve is opened by moving the bowl stopper descendingly away from the bowl and the bowl seat. As a result, sealing may not be assured, in that the weight of the water in the toilet bowl presses down on the bowl stopper, tending to unseal it in relation to the bowl seat. Further, the cross-sectional height of the plumbing associated with the urinal flush modality as described therein is potentially too large to be truly practical
Accordingly, what is needed is a two flush modality toilet wherein the bowl valve is simple and reliable and the urinal flush plumbing has minimal cross-sectional height.